What is the Duke of Edinburgh award?
The Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) awards are an excellent way for young people up to the age of 24 to learn new skills in all aspects of their life. Each award consists of volunteering, learning a new skill, completing a physical activity and planning and completing an expedition. Completing each award requires dedication and commitment and are an excellent accolade to achieve, not to mention being good fun along the way. You can find more about the DofE awards at their website https://www.dofe.org/
DofE at NWL
Since 2018, NWL students have been taking part in the DofE award scheme, with 16 students participating and 13 bronze and 13 silver awards achieved between them.
Next year the Centre is hoping to have the first group of students taking on the biggest challenge offered by the award scheme by working towards their Gold awards.
The Silver canoeing expedition 2020
This year, six students have been working towards their silver awards, culminating in an expedition at the end of July. There are lots of methods of travel suitable for expeditions – not just hiking – and our students have chosen to embrace their adventurous sides and take to the river in canoes. Having planned and trained for the expedition, our student team maintained control throughout, leading the expedition without adult input.
The students spent three days canoeing down the River Thames camping overnight, feeding themselves, map reading and making decisions as they went. These student planned and led expeditions are an integral part of the award scheme, offering the youngsters the opportunity to learn and build on many of the personal and social skills learned during the year at the Centre.
Every year the DofE awards prove to be a firm favourite extracurricular activity at the Centre, and this year is no exception, with the expedition was greatly enjoyed by all!
